Star Wars: A New Definition of Reality
by Malthen Tinu
Summary: After having a strange dream, Elizabeth finds out that somethings that happened long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away may be more possible than she beleived.
1. The Dream

The Dream 

_Two people stood alone in a clearing. One was a man who measured 5'5" and had an air of power and peace surrounding him. The other was a fifteen year-old boy who was nervous and trying not to show it._

_"We're damaged too much to leave and we need more help, Master," the boy said._

_"I'm sure we will find someone here to help. Do not worry, my young apprentice," the man replied._

_"I hope they speak Basic," the boy said in unoptimistic tone._

_"We will see tomorrow when we leave. Get some rest. We have had a hard journey," the man told the boy._

The two climbed into their space ship and closed the hatch. The older of the two sat down in to pilot's seat and pressed a button that rendered their ship invisible

Elizabeth woke with a start. "What a weird dream," she thought, "and what kind of language is 'Basic' anyways?" There was something about the characters in her dream that she almost recognized but could not put her finger on. She glanced over at her clock. It read six a.m. The girl groaned and pulled herself out of bed. As she dressed in her dorky school uniform, kaki pants and a solid colored collared shirt, Elizabeth thought about the dream again. It was coming to her. She almost had it figured out. She was almost there.

"Elizabut!!!!! Breakfast is ready," here annoying little brother called up the stairs.

"I'll be down in a minute, Nichotoothead," Elizabeth yelled back at her brother. They were always calling each other names.

Elizabeth continued to dress and tried to get her train of thought back. She thought and thought, but she could not remember what she almost figured out about the guys in her dream.

The brunette walked down the stairs and into the breakfast area where the kitchen table was. Her mother had already made eggs and bacon and set it out nicely on the table. Her parents and brother had apparently already finished eating, as there was only one plate set. She sat down and started on her eggs. As soon as she tasted the first bite, she spit it out.

"Sugar!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "He put sugar on my eggs! Nicholas you are going to die!"

She chased him around the house and had finally succeeded in capturing her little brother. She was just starting to inflict pain when their mom walked in.

"Elizabeth, what on earth are you doing?" her mother asked.

"Getting pay back," she replied.

"For what,"

"Sugar,"

"Sugar?"

"Don't ask,"

"Good, because I don't want to know. Let go of your brother and I won't ground you. Okay?"

Elizabeth let go of her brother, but gave him one last pinch as a reminder. Seeing the problem solved, their mom left. Nicholas followed her. Elizabeth went into the pantry and took a granola bar out of its box for breakfast.

The teen wolfed down the granola bar and back ran up stairs. The blue-eyed girl gave her teeth a quick running over with her toothbrush. She picked up her backpack and headed out for school. Because she lived so close to her school, Saint Mary of the Snow School, she walked there every day.

As she walked, Elizabeth thought about the dream again. The words of the man and the boy kept echoing in her mind. What were they trying to tell her? It was clear that the man was the master and the boy an apprentice, but an apprentice to what trade? They also probably were not related.

It was like one of those days where you get a song stuck in your head but you can't remember who sings it, what most of the words are, what it's called, or where you heard it.

Just when things were starting to make some sense, Sashu, Elizabeth's best friend jumped out from behind a mail box and yelled, "Boo!!" Elizabeth screamed.

"You scared me, Sashu," Elizabeth gasped after she had finished screaming.

"Duh, that was the point. Let's get going," Sashu replied as the pair started to walk down the sidewalk together.

When they got to school, the best friends met the hustle and bustle of a Thursday morning. They wormed their way to their lockers, which were, too the teens' delight, right next to one another. After grabbing the correct books, they said goodbye and headed in opposite directions to go to first period class. Sashu went to home economics and Elizabeth had World Civilizations.

In world civ., as it was usually called, her class was studying ancient China and they were going to try meditations today. Elizabeth had never done this before, and did not know how meditations worked. When she got into the classroom, the teen noticed that all of the desks were pushed up against the walls and everyone was sitting in a circle on the floor.

"Elizabeth, since you are still up, why don't you sit in the middle of the circle," a voice behind her said, "Now class, in ancient China and other places as well meditation was and still is seen as a relaxing process. The Chinese believed that this process was good for the body. Legend says that if you sit in a circle around a person that person will be gifted with prophetic visions."

During this, Elizabeth sat down in the exact center of the circle and tried to think calm.

"Students, sit up straight and try to clear your mind," the teacher, Mr. Houchens, continued, " Now direct the feelings you are having towards Elizabeth and continue to keep your minds empty of all thoughts."

_Almost instantly, Elizabeth saw the man and the boy again. They were standing next to a car that was in front of a forest and had exchanged their flowing brown robe like jackets for blue jeans and t-shirts. The man handed the boy a large hooded sweatshirt as he pulled on his own._

"_This should cover everything," the man said to himself._

"_These pants, what did you call them 'jeanies' or something like that, they are constricting. I can not move in them," the boy told the man._

"_Jeans, my young apprentice, they are called jeans. They are the most common casual form of clothing here. Let me remind you that these people have limited space travel and have never met a being from another world," the man said to his apprentice._

"_Weird," the boy replied, "Do they speak Basic?"_

"_Yes and no," the man said cautiously, "On this planet there are many different languages. Even though many people speak a different language as well as Basic, we may not be able to communicate with all people. And here they call Basic English."_

"_What is this planet called again, Master?" the boy asked once they got into the car._

"_Earth, my young apprentice, this planet is called Earth. And do try not to be so forgetful," the man answered as he started to drive._

"_I am working on it, Master," the boy said. They drove on in silence for several minutes until they entered a city._

_As the boy opened his mouth to speak, the man said, " We are entering Sunshine." The boy looked surprised for a moment but quickly regained composure._

"_Will we need our li-" the boy started as Elizabeth was jerked back into the real world._ When she opened her eyes, she saw all of her classmates staring at her.

"Did you see anything?" Mr. Houchens asked.

"No," she lied.

"You were muttering something during the meditation. The only thing I understood was 'Genies'. Does this mean anything to you?" her teacher asked.

"No," she lied again.

"I guess the old legends were wrong again. Now class, tomorrow we will have a discussion on the realism of tea readings and no we will not all be trying this but I will thoroughly explain it. Class dismissed," Mr. Houchens said to his class.

"Mr. Houchens," Elizabeth asked after the rest of the class had left, "Can I talk to you, maybe at lunch, about what really happened during the meditation. I saw people and they need help. And they're right here in Sunshine."


	2. The Boy

The Boy

"When do you have study hall?" Mr. Houchens asked.

"Last period," Elizabeth replied.

"Good. I am open last period. Come by during study hall and we'll talk," Mr. Houchens said handing her a slip of paper, "Give this to your study hall teacher."

"I'll be there," Elizabeth called as she left for her next class, Algebra II. She had to jog to get to class on time because it was on the opposite end of the building. She slipped into her seat with a moment to spare. Just as Mrs. Marcum, her algebra teacher, walked in the door, Elizabeth pulled out her homework.

Algebra class went as usual. Mrs. Marcum read out the answers and Elizabeth missed the usual few. Cathy, a non-math person, asked a million questions as usual, unfortunately. After about fifteen minutes of answering Cathy's questions and doing several problems on the dirty dry erase board, Mrs. Marcum handed out a class assignment. The class normally spent an hour on an in-class assignment or learning a new technique. Elizabeth sighed, pulled out a pencil and started tackling today's assignment. Math was easy for her, but it took a few minutes for her to get to the answer.

"Home work is page 264, # 3-50 odds," Mrs. Marcum yelled over the bell that signaled the end of second period.

Elizabeth calmly walked towards her locker. She was more than ready for lunch. When she reached her locker hall, she met the normal crowds of people. Finally she wormed her way to her locker.

"Hi," Sashu called from the next locker.

"Hi," Elizabeth replied, "Are you ready for lunch? I am."

"Definitely. Was little Miss priss Cathy a royal pain again?" Sashu asked stuffing books into her locker.

"Asked a million questions as usual. What she needs is to go back to the eight grade," Elizabeth confirmed.

"She definitely does not have the mental requirements for tenth grade, unlike us," Sashu agreed.

"Let's go," Elizabeth replied slamming her locker closed. Sashu slammed hers and followed her best friend to the cafeteria.

After lunch, Elizabeth and Sashu went to English II Honors. They were studying The Joy Luck Club. Elizabeth listened closely and took detailed notes and tried not to get distracted by the thought of next period. Finally, the bell rang. Mrs. Turco, their English teacher, announced that there would be no homework.

"Will you give this to the study hall teacher for me?" Elizabeth asked Sashu, handing her the note from Mr. Houchens. She nodded and headed off for study hall. Elizabeth turned and walked in the direction of Mr. Houchens' room.

"Hello again, Elizabeth. Sit down please. Now start from the beginning," Mr. Houchens said as she walked in the door. Elizabeth sat down in a desk facing him and began to explain everything starting with the dream. Mr. Houchens listened carefully and gave her his full attention.

"And then I opened my eyes and saw every one looking at me and that's it," Elizabeth finished.

"Can you describe the man and the boy for me?" Mr. Houchens asked.

"The man was, ah… 5'5", give or take, and he had black hair that was normal guy hair length. He had really dark brown eyes that looked as if they could see things others couldn't. He was always calm and had a powerful feel to him," Elizabeth recalled.

"And the boy?" Mr. Houchens prompted.

"He had very, very blond hair, I mean like seriously blond hair, and these piercing blue eyes, not pale but dark. I would say he's around fifteen, like me. His hair was buzzed and he had a braid behind his left-no right ear that came just passed his shoulder. He was slightly shorter than the man and he was nervous, and I could tell he wasn't used to being so nervous," Elizabeth continued.

"Did you say a buzz cut and a braid?" Mr. Houchens asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Kinda weird isn't it?" Elizabeth replied not catching on.

"He's here! The boy is here!" Mr. Houchens exclaimed.

"Here? I know he's in Sunshine already," Elizabeth said confused.

"No, no, no, no. Here, at Saint Mary's. He was in my last class. I'll look him up in the database. I think his name was Anthony Patrick," Mr. Houchens explained typing away on his keyboard, "Here he is, fourth period B day. He has study hall in room 127."

"127? That means I would have seen him if I had just delivered the note my self. Ugh!! Well, let's go get him," Elizabeth told her teacher.

He got up and led the way out of his classroom, and Elizabeth shut the door behind her. They ran down the halls but slowed to a walk so they wouldn't disturb the classes in session. After less than two minutes, they reached room 127.

"Now just follow my lead and don't talk too much," Mr. Houchens whispered before opening the door.

"Hi. Mrs. Lane, may I borrow Mr. Patrick for a while. Thank you," he continued louder. He came out of the room followed by the boy. Elizabeth's eyes grew to about twice there normal size, but she did not say anything.

"Anthony, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Anthony," Mr. Houchens said. Elizabeth shook hands with the fifteen year-old from her dream. A shock of static electricity ran between them. Elizabeth and Anthony pulled back their hands simultaneously and rubbed the spot where the electricity had hit.

"Ow! You shocked me," they said in unison.

"That was weird," Elizabeth said as Anthony stared at her.

"Anthony, I noticed that you were having some trouble in my class. Elizabeth here is an A student in American History. If you don't mind, we work together right now," Mr. Houchens said.

"_Alright_," Anthony replied without taking his eyes off of Elizabeth. The walked down the hall in silence. Elizabeth was glad that Anthony had taken his eyes off of her. When they reached Mr. Houchens' room, the teacher opened the door, walked in, and locked it behind him.

Mr. Houchens sat down and said, "Anthony, we didn't bring you here to talk about American History. We need some information from you."

"I saw you in a dream last night and again during a meditation session," Elizabeth said to the boy.

"_You had a vision, a vision of me? So what?_" Anthony asked.

"But you weren't alone. You were with your Master. I saw you with your space ship," the girl continued.

"_Space ship? That is funny,_" Anthony replied faking a laugh.

"I also saw you in a car. Does 'Jeanies' ring a bell?" Elizabeth asked.

Anthony stopped laughing abruptly. "_How do you know about 'Jeanies'?_" he asked blushing slightly.

"I told you. I saw you," Elizabeth said, "And heard your conversations."

Anthony backed away from her and pulled out a small white tube that was shorter than his pinkie and no bigger around than his smallest finger. "_Master,_" he spoke into it, "_We have a problem. I am coming back._"

As Elizabeth and Mr. Houchens stood up, he put the white tube away and pulled out a slender metal tube that was about the length of his forearm. Unaffected by this, Elizabeth stepped closer to the boy, as he backed against a wall.

"Tell me what you know. Please, Anthony," the girl begged.

In one fluid motion, Anthony twirled the metal tube and ignited it with a snap hiss. When he stopped moving he had in his hands a blade of blue energy.

"A lightsaber," Elizabeth breathed.

Anthony turned around and cut a hole in the wall. He ran through it and out in to the hall. Elizabeth ran out after him. After a moment of thought, Mr. Houchens ran out too. Elizabeth was on the track for long distance running, but that did not help her much.

Anthony reached out to the Force for help. Elizabeth felt him doing this and mentally reached out and touched the ripples of Force surrounding him. Anthony felt some one else touching the Force and he turned around to see whom it was. Elizabeth put on a burst of speed and tackled him, but Anthony dislodged her easily.

She got up and ran after him. She did not louse any ground until he ran into the street. An out of breath Mr. Houchens caught up with her in the parking lot.

"Wait, Elizabeth, you cannot go off of school property," he gasped.

"I lost him. I lost him," Elizabeth said, "And he's a Jedi too. There are an infinite number of things we could learn from him too."

"But, Elizabeth, you know where their ship is. It is broken, so they can't go anywhere. Let's go inside and try to pin point their location," Mr. Houchens rationalized.

"Alright," Elizabeth sighed. They walked somberly back into the building and went to Mr. Houchens's room.


	3. The Next Step

The Next Step

"What side did they enter the city from?" Mr. Houchens asked once they were safely inside his room.

"East. I saw I-67 in the background," Elizabeth recalled.

"Tell me about the clearing that they were in," Mr. Houchens said.

"It was grassy and there were trees al around. A path led into the clearing. That's all I remember," Elizabeth said.

"A forest on the east side, with paths. Hmm, Bently Woods perhaps. Yes, yes, I do believe that there is a clearing there that fits your description. It is no too far from here. You could walk there," Mr. Houchens said.

"I could go after school, but we still have an hour left. What can I do until then?" Elizabeth asked.

"You can start by writing down every thing you know," Mr. Houchens suggested. "That way you have all of the facts in front of you and they'll be organized."

"I'll give it a try," Elizabeth replied. She took out a pad of paper and began writing. Her notes looked like this:

Anthony Patrick (?) around 5'4' blonde, blue eyed, buzz cut and braid behind the right ear (Jedi padawan braid ?) Jedi padawan of , blue lightsaber age aprox. Fifteen

Man Name? 5'5' brunette, brown eyed, Jedi Knight/Master of Anthony Patrick(?) lightsaber color ? age thirties?

Crash landed (?) on Earth, cannot leave b/c space ship is in need of repairs.

In Bently Woods (?)

Saw in a dream and meditation session

"Done,' She said after fifteen minutes.

"Let me see," Mr. Houchens said taking the pad of paper. "Good, good. That looks like every thing."

"Now what?" Elizabeth asked.

"Let's plan a route to Bently Woods," Mr. Houchens suggested.

He pulled out a map of the city and showed her how to get t Bently Woods. He then pulled out a map of Bently Woods and showed her how to get to the clearing.

Studying the maps, Elizabeth asked, "What about the hole?"

"What hole?" Mr. Houchens asked.

"The hole Anthony made with his lightsaber. It's kind of noticeable," Elizabeth explained.

"If I rearrange in here a bit, which I have been meaning to do, I can cover it from the inside. I think I can put the cut out part back in the wall and maybe cover it from the outside," Mr. Houchens said.

"I'll help," Elizabeth replied cheerfully. They worked together and had a pleasant conversation of no relevance. The hole was covered on the inside by a filing cabinet. The outside was cleverly covered by artwork.

When the task was done, Elizabeth said, "Wasn't it great the way Anthony used the Force to pick up speed?"

"What do you mean?" Mr. Houchens asked.

"Couldn't you feel the Force rippling out from him and-" Elizabeth said. "You didn't did you?"

Mr. Houchens shook his head no.

"This is interesting," she said. "Another puzzle. It seems we are getting more questions than answers." She sighed.

Elizabeth rearranged the notes and maps on the desk into neat little piles. She carefully lined up the edges, wishing that she had something more productive to do. She didn't notice Mr. Houchens moving around the room and taking stuff out of the filing cabinets, his desk and the closet. He sat down at the desk next to hers and dropped the stuff on it.


End file.
